Lap Dog
by FicsbyRome
Summary: Nagata Hiro was satisfied with her life, studying English and American Literature in college in her home city, Ikebukuro. She was satisfied with her almost nonexistent social life, and never asked for anything extra. It was just her luck that she'd meet Orihara Izaya in Russia Sushi, and run into him time and time again. Just what has Hiro gotten herself into? [IzayaxOC] {HIATUS}
1. Pilot

In the early evening, a man known to the city of Ikebukuro as Orihara Izaya, skipped to one of the frequent restaurants he ate at, Russia Sushi. Entering the restaurant, he sat himself down at the sushi bar and ordered his usual ootoro and black coffee.

Thump!

Izaya, out of the corner of his eye, looked towards the space where the sound came from. He saw two women, college students, sitting in a booth behind him, one having long, dark hair and an irritated expression, and the other having light blonde hair, tied into a tight bun that sat on the top of her head.

The one with dark hair spoke. "Yui-Chan, you translated it wrong again." Before sighing.

The one Izaya labeled 'Yui' winced, then whined out a response. "Hiro-Chan! How did I do it wrong?"

"The English translation for, 'Tenki i, kyode wanaidesu ka?', would be, 'Isn't the weather nice today?', not, 'Wasn't the weather nice today?'." The darker haired one, whom Yui called 'Hiro', replied, groaning afterwards.

"B-But isn't it the same thing?" A whimper.

"'Isn't' in English is referring to right now, while 'wasn't' is referring to the past." Another sigh.

Yui suddenly popped up from the booth, just as Izaya's coffee and ootoro arrived. Taking a sip of his coffee, Izaya watched as Yui bounded outside, cell phone against her ear.

"She better not bail like last time." Hiro growled under her breath, a frown setting into her features.

"You know, if you frown like that too much, you'll get wrinkles before your forty." Izaya states, turning around in his chair, coffee in hand.

"Is that so?" Hiro asks, tilting her head just the slightest bit. Izaya nods, drinking from his cup. "Well aren't you knowledgable." She continues in a flat tone, sarcastic.

"Aw, that's not nice. I am indeed knowledgeable." Izaya pouts for a second, then a smirk settles into it's place. "Orihara Izaya." He introduces.

"Nagata Hiro." Hiro responded, eyeing him suspiciously.

Either Hiro didn't know who he was, or she lived life on the wild side. Unknown to Izaya, Hiro did know who he was. Or rather, she'd heard of him from Yui. Motomiya Yui described him as dangerous, but not all that scary from a first glance. Hiro didn't doubt her roommate, but she'd rather judge someone based on her own examinations, not someone else's opinion.

So they sat, just, staring at each other, as tension rises in the air, oblivious to the other customers of Russia Sushi. The silence grew to be uncomfortable, and Hiro hated being uncomfortable. So, the female ravenette spoke.

"Take a picture, it'll last longer."

What she didn't expect, was for Izaya to pull out his cell phone and snap a picture. He lowered the cell, and Hiro swore his smirk grew larger. He turned the cell towards Hiro, showing her the picture. Izaya expected her to gawk, then make a scene, yelling for him to delete the photo. But to his interest, she didn't.

Hiro only narrowed her leafy green eyes. "I request you delete that photo." She insisted.

Izaya tilted his head, which would have looked innocent to most. "Why? You are the one that told me to take it." He reminded.

Hiro pursed her lips, thinking for a moment. She wanted to explode from irritation. But instead, she decided to play it cool, to not embarrass herself in public. "Hm, I suppose I did." With a small tilt of her head, then a shrug, before walking out the building.

Izaya was… intrigued, to say the least. Glancing at the picture he took, Izaya inwardly chuckled. _Nagata Hiro, hm?_

* * *

When Hiro arrived back to her and Yui's apartment, she found Yui sitting up on the top bunk bed, painting her nails a neon green. As Hiro entered, Yui called out a quick, "Welcome back~" Before continuing. Hiro gave a quick wave before sitting at her desk, unpacking her worn messenger bag. It wasn't long before Yui could hear the scribbling of Hiro's pencil against paper.

"Wake up, study, go to class, do homework, eat, more classes, study more, homework, get barely enough sleep to keep you pretty, then repeat!" Yui said with a distraught expression.

Hiro glanced up to Yui with an unreadable expression. "And?" She replied.

Yui capped her nail polish, then swung her legs over the rail of the top bunk. "Hiirrro~" The blonde whined out. "C'mon, it seems like you have more schoolwork to do than high school, and you took almost every extracurricular there was!" She exclaimed, continuing.

"It's very important that I keep my high scores on classwork." Hiro replied simply, looking back down at her paper.

Yui sighed, hopped down from the bunk, and slung an arm around Hiro's shoulder, making the ravenette jump. "Fun!" The blonde exclaimed.

"Pardon?"

"Fun! It's what you're missing from your daily routine!" Yui exclaimed again.

Hiro looked at her. "I am having fun." She says, confusion clear in her voice.

Deadpanned, Yui sighed. "I meant like, go out. See a movie, go on a date, a party, gets drinks with some friends, that kind of fun!"

"Yui, my idea of fun is the absolute opposite of everything you just listed." The ravenette replies, standing from her chair.

"Hmpt!" Yui pouted. "Have you _ever _been on a date before?"

"Yui…-"

"I mean come on!" The blonde interrupted. "Oh! I saw you talking to a guy at Russia Sushi today, couldn't see his face, but I bet he was pleantly cute, come on, spill it!" She continued, with an exclamation.

"Spill what? It was awkward and I hate awkward situations." Hiro replied, crossing her arms.

"Hiro… what did you say?" Yui asked, a bit nervous because of Hiro's personality.

"H-He was staring at me, so I told him to take a picture! I never expected him to actually do it!" Hiro exclaimed in her own defense.

"Hiro, I knew your dark, sarcastic personality would get you somewhere in life!" Yui said, happily.

"What?" Hiro deadpanned.

"Now this cutie has a way of remembering you!" She gushed. "So, cutie have a name?"

"Orihara Izaya." Hiro mumbled.

Yui had always said to stay away from dangerous people, and as far as Hiro knew, Orihara Izaya had that label passed on his forehead, no matter how cute he was. That being said, Hiro was confused when Yui's face lit up. The look in her blonde companion's eyes made her think of the times in anime where the perverted character sees their next victim.

"Oooh! Hottie alert!" She was practically bouncing from excitement. "You saw him first, Hiro, so I'll leave him to you."

"I never said I wanted to date Orihara-" Again, interrupted.

"I'm gonna train you! I'm gonna make you cute and irresistible!" Yui was now physically bouncing.

"Are you mad? This is Orihara Izaya! Remember him from high school? He got vending machines thrown at him literally every day!" Hiro exclaimed, a bit worried about the sanity of her blonde friend.

"True, but he was so suave, and cool, and always jumped out of the way! And have you seen his _hair_?"

"His _hair_?"

"Yeah! His _hair_!" Yui exclaimed again.

Hiro simply sighed. She didn't know what Yui was talking about. His hair? What's so great about it? And if you ask for an explanation from Yui, you get a long presentation featuring hand motions. So she didn't bother.

"Classes start at seven forty-five a.m. tomorrow. I'm going to sleep." Hiro said collapsing onto the bottom bunk.

"And so the cycle continues! Booooring!" The blonde exclaimed with a giggle, scrambling up to the top bunk after turning off the lights.

"Heh. Oh shut up." Hiro replied with a chuckle, staring up at the ceiling with an odd sense of dread in her stomach, no, maybe something else. Like her life would never be the same.

* * *

_Hello followers and readers of Lap Dog. I know its been a while, almost 3 years, hasn't it? But! 3 Years has given me some time to improve on basically everything, to my writing, to the Lap Dog story line, (which has been slightly warped, hopefully for the better) and of course character development. I'll try to put these out at least once a week, but I don't have many chapters written out so far at this moment. Also Happy New Years! I'm really feeling like 2016 will be a good year. I hope you enjoy this updated series, please leave a review telling me how I've done, it'd be very much appreciated. (^_^)_


	2. Our Day

From the day Hiro met Izaya at Russia Sushi she seemed to see him everywhere. And it was true! She'd see him at the grocery store, on her way to and from school, and he always bugged her about getting coffee with him sometime because she was 'interesting' to him. Of course Yui was no help, she'd just say, "Take the chance, maybe you'll end up falling in love with Orihara." Hiro thought that was bullshit.

She had met the man once, she wasn't some Disney princess. _I'm not falling in love with him. _She insisted to herself firmly.

And so, Hiro started staying indoors more. Yui called her a coward, and told her to just go outside, maybe even ask Orihara out.

_No way._ Hiro thought. _Never going to happen._ She'd insist.

Hiro only went outside to travel to college. Yui and Hiro had an apartment just big enough for the two of them. It was small, but cosy and they couldn't be happier. They each had their own rooms with their own bathrooms, thank god. (Yui could not keep a bathroom clean, Hiro had quickly learned.) And Hiro's room even had a small balcony. The apartment was pretty close to campus, so luckily they could easily walk, not having to worry about trains like they did in highschool when they lived with their parents.

Hiro and Yui originally met in their first year of highschool, going to Raira academy with Izaya. The two had interacted on occasion, a quick "Goodmorning!" Was all, usually, since they had neighboring shoe lockers. They had really met in their first year of college, a year ago, when Yui posted an ad looking for a roommate. Hiro, of course, was looking for an apartment at the time, and the paper caught her eye because of the brightly colored words and crazy fonts used against the dull, white paper.

The first month was hectic. With all the moving of stuff, arranging rooms, finding part time jobs, and adding college work on there it was plain exhausting. On the first month anniversary of them having an apartment together, the two bought a couch. Well, more like a loveseat, since they didn't have much money. It was the first piece of furniture they bought, and is now mostly used by Yui since Hiro's parents bought her a reclining chair for Christmas.

And that's where Hiro was now. Sitting as she usually sat in her reclining chair. Feet dangling over one arm of the chair, with her head resting against the other. She only really used the reclining aspect when they had movie nights, and when Yui asked why she sat like that, Hiro always answered, "Because I was never able to when I lives with my family."

Hiro was lazily sitting in the chair, sinking further and further into it, and jumped when something (someone) suddenly touched her.

"Come on, let's go out today!" Yui exclaimed, starling Hiro.

"You can go, I'm fine where I am." Which was Hiro's way of declining.

"Aw come on, you can't coop yourself up in the nest forever, baby bird. You've gotta fly!" Yui retorted, flapping her arms up and down as if she had wings.

Hiro rolled her eyes. "I 'fly' to school everyday." She replied, using air quotes.

Yui clicked her tongue. "Don't make me drag you off that chair, Hiro." She warned, balancing a hand on her hip.

"You'd better not." Hiro insisted, narrowing her eyes into a glare.

The glare sent a shiver down Yui's spine, and the blonde sighed. "Fine, fine," She said, holding her hands up in defeat. "But please Hiro? Let's just go out today, we never get to just hang out anymore. We can go get some coffee and browse bookstores!" Yui continued, knowing how much Hiro loved reading and bookstores.

The raveonettes eyes lit up. "Seriously?" Hiro asked, and Yui nodded.

Hiro gave a small, defeated sigh, and looked away from Yui. "I-I suppose we can go out today…" She stammered.

"Yay! C'mon!" Yui exclaimed, throwing a jacket at Hiro and slipping her own on her average frame.

Hiro gave a small chuckle as she stood, smoothing out the edges of her skirt and slipping on a red hoodie that she pulled over her head.

And with that, the two were out the door. It was an average day, the sky was blue but the winds were harsh. There were tons of people, as usual, and Yui had planned for them to visit a coffee shop on 60 Kai Street, which of course is the most inhabited street with the cinema and Sunshine City so close.

But, eventually, they made it to the coffee shop, and of course it was congested in there as well, so Yui offered for Hiro to stay outside, knowing how much Hiro hated people crowded areas. (Which was a bit odd since Hiro lived in Ikebukuro all her life, aside from one year but that's a story for another time.)

Hiro agreed to Yui's offer, and stood with her back against the wall if the shop as Yui stood in line to order. The ravenette looked out in the crowd. All these different people, their different stories, she _I suppose I could see how it could be interesting to people,_ and by people she meant Izaya. She just couldn't get the damn information broker off her mind, he was simply to complex and just plain weird. And she hated it. She wanted to forget all about that day at Russia Sushi, but of course she couldn't. It like the little bastard implanted himself into her memory or something. It really pissed her off.

"Hey, Hiro-Tan."

Hiro jumped a little, the voice seemed to come from nowhere. She turned around, and saw who she expected to be there.

"Orihara-San," She acknowledged, and her eyes narrowed. "I told you to knock it off with the nicknames."

"You don't seem happy to see me, Hiro-Tan." He bluntly said, a smirk upon his face, completely ignoring her last comment.

"Tch. You always startle me! It's no wonder I'm not ecstatic to see you." She countered with a roll of her eyes.

"Aw, but you're so cute when you're scared." He replied, an innocent looking smile (most probably face) replacing the smirk that was there.

Hiro's heart did a small skip. The only man that's ever called her cute was her father, and that was a little kid type cute. She felt her ears heat up. "S-Shut it." She said, glaring daggers at him.

His 'innocent' smile turned into a pout. "That's not very nice, Hiro-Tan," He scolds. "I give you a compliment and you totally ignore me? Tsk, tsk, tsk, humans are so stubborn." He continues, shaking his head.

Hiro went back to leaning against the wall. "What're you doing here anyway, Orihara-San?" She asked after a sigh.

"Can I not come to visit Ikebukuro, Hiro-Tan?" He asks a question in response to her question, it was one of the things that pissed her off the most about him.

"The last time you were here, large objects came flying at you," She pointed out.

"And?" He asked.

"A-And?! What do you mean 'And?' _And_ you almost got _killed_ by a _vending machine_!" She exclaimed, astonished.

"Ooh, Shizu-Chan, eh? I'm not worried about that monster killing me, he's tried so many times in the past, and I'm still alive and kicking fine." Izaya replied, almost in a tone that seemed like bragging, though, knowing Izaya, he probably _was_ bragging about his survival rate against Ikebukuro's Strongest.

Hiro huffed in defeat. It was clear that she wasn't getting through to him.

"Anyway, Hiro-Tan, what're _you_ doing here? All the times I asked you to coffee you said you didn't drink coffee. Were you lying to me, Hiro-Tan?" He tilted his head as he asked the question, and as he talked a smirk grew on his face. There was a gleam in his eyes, childish joy mixed with the thoughts of a madman. It honestly scared her a bit.

"I didn't plan on coming here." She stated quietly, hoping the answer would satisfy him. It didn't. "W-Why should I have to explain myself to you, Orihara-San? Why do you care, anyway?" She sneered, giving him a quick bottom to top look with narrowed eyes.

"I'm afraid you've caught my interests, Hiro-Tan." He said simply, shrugging.

When Hiro gave a raised eyebrow, he continued on. "Humans interest me greatly. I love them. All of them. But most humans are boring, generic, carbon-copies of each other, not satisfying at all! And then I met you, Hiro-Tan, you've attained my interests."

_Take them back._ She said to herself, badly concealing a shudder.

"Ooh? Cold, Hiro-Tan?" He asked with obvious knowledge that he knew otherwise.

"N-No, not at all…" she stammered, sheepishly flattening down the edges of her skirt.

He simply gave her a look, and she turned away stammering. _What the hell is wrong with me? I need to get it together. _ Hiro thought to herself, wanting to pinch herself or something, but didn't for fear that'd he'd make some kind of comment.

"H-Hiro! Come help me with this stuff~!" Suddenly, Yui came bursting out the shop's door, in both her hands cups of coffee, and slung onto her arm was a plastic bag.

Hiro deadpanned. _She was only supposed to go in for two cups of coffee._ She thought to herself.

The ravenette girl speed walked over to Yui, taking the coffee that was offered to her and a pastry that Yui bought. Izaya looked on from his place leaning upon the wall, as Hiro was minutes before.

"You know you were only supposed to buy coffee, right?" Hiro said in a slightly scolding tone.

"Aw come on! You can't blame me for pigging out when there was sweet things!" Yui complained, said sweet thing in her hand.

Hiro rolled her eyes, and glanced around for any onlookers, and her eyes locked with Izaya's. A shiver was sent down her spine as a blush appeared on her ears.

"Ooh, who's that hottie?" Yui whispered to Hiro, wiggling her eyebrows.

"I-It's," Hiro dropped to an even lower whisper. "O-Orihara-San…"

"Damn! Wow I didn't even recognize him! Fallen for him yet, Hiro-Chan~?" Izaya was on the phone now, but by the way he smirked, Yui spoke loud enough that he could hear.

"S-Shut up!" The younger girl exclaimed, the blush now spreading to her face.

Yui simply laughed it off. "Oooh He's walking towards you~" She continued to joke.

"Hiro-Tan! Sorry to leave so early, but my work calls." He said simply, with a childlike pout.

Hiro straightened up. He was so god damn tall compared to her. Well, everyone's tall compared to her, even Yui, who everyone considered pretty short, being 5'3. Hiro was still 5'1, the same as high school.

"Well, I mean, it's your work, so…" Hiro stumbled over her words a bit, but managed to form a sentence.

"See you soon?" He asked, and his expression was to much to deny. The only person she expected _could_ deny him at that point was Heiwajima Shizuo.

"S-Sure." She mumbled as a response, and he brightened up, and disappeared into the Ikebukuro crowd.

Yui and Hiro decided to go home. They took the subway and after coming above ground and walk towards the building, Yui said, "Did you see his face?"

"I was standing right there."

"No, smartass, that sad little boy face. J-Just wow. I don't know anyone who could've said no." Yui replied.

"You certainly couldn't." Yui continued.

"Oh look we're home." Hiro mumbled, seeing the apartment building, rolling her eyes and speed walking away from her best friend and roommate.

"Aw come on Hiro, be a good sport!"

"When we get inside I'm going to sleep."

"Hiiiirrrroo!"


	3. Exhilaration

-Ikuto Has Entered The Chat-

[Ikuto]: Hello everyone.

[Setton]: Evening!

[TarouTanaka]: Good evening Ikuto-San.

[TarouTanaka]: I'm actually moving to Ikebukuro tomorrow.

[Setton]: Oh yeah? Congrats. Your own place?

[TarouTanaka]: Yep. What's neat in Ikebukuro these days?

[Setton]: That's a pretty vague question... (^~^;;)

[Ikuto]: (=_=;;) I live there and yet I'm too busy with Uni to go out anywhere...

-Kanra Has Entered The Chat-

[Kanra]: Don't you know? Ikebukuro's all about the 'Dollars' right now!

[Setton]: Heya.

[Ikuto]: Hi Kanra.

[TarouTanaka:] Good evening, Kanra-San.

[Setton]: The Dollars are that team people are talking about these days? I've never seen them.

[Kanra]: Sounds like they're keeping it on the DL in public, but people on the Net are totally into it

[TarouTanaka]: Oh, really? Sounds like you know a lot about Ikebukuro.

[Kanra]: Not that much, really! Oh, how about this? There's this old urban legend, see...

[Ikuto]: Oh, that motorcycle one?

[Kanra]: That's the one! (v)

[Setton]: Oh, I know what you guys are talking about. But that's not an urban legend or anything...

[TarouTanaka]: Sorry, I'm a bit lost...

[Kanra]: You've never heard of this, TarouTanaka-San?

[TarouTanaka]: ?

[Ikuto]: Oh no, here comes another one of Kanra's rumors... (=_=ll)

[Kanra]: It's the Black Rider!

* * *

**About a Day Later**

* * *

"Oh yeah! Today's the day you're meeting with Masa-Chan, right?" Yui asked, laying upside down on the loveseat.

Hiro gave a nod, "Yes. He asked me to help show his friend around Ikebukuro."

"Huh? But you don't go out into the city much, do 'ya Hiro?" Yui asked, tilting her head, making her blonde wisps of hair float to the side.

"Not really, but Masaomi asked me for my help." Hiro replied, shrugging her shoulders.

"Ahh, I see. But two men at once-"

"Stop it." Hiro interrupted, gathering her things. She slips on a small, red hoodie and throws her bag over her shoulder before turning to face Yui. "Don't burn the house down."

"The only one who would actually burn a house down with cooking is Momo-Nee." Yui lazily threw out as Hiro walked out the door.

Hiro gave a small chuckle. Yui was right, despite the fact it was a joke. Hiro's sister almost _actually _ burnt the house down with her awful cooking 'skills', if they could be called skills. The ravenette produced a small sigh as she walked as fast as her short legs could take her. She glanced down at her cell. Masaomi told her to meet him and his friend, Ryuugamine Mikado, in the subway.

Before Hiro even walked down the stairs into the underground, she felt an arm sling around her shoulder. "Hiirro!" A voice called.

Hiro gave a light smile. "Masaomi." She greeted.

"Heh!" He hoped in front of her, unhooking his arm from her shoulder. "The one and only, Kida Masaomi!" The boy in front of Hiro was the age of fifteen, though taller than Hiro, who was twenty. The fact still left Hiro with a bit of distaste. He had bleached blond hair, pierced ears and wore a white hoodie as his distinguishing features. His brown eyes shone like the sun with excitement, and his smile large and bubbly. This, was Kida Masaomi, one of the people Hiro was glad to call her friend.

"Of course. You look excited." Hiro observed.

"Yeah, of course I am! I get to introduce one of my best friends to my best friend who I haven't seen in years! C'mon, let's go see if we can find Mikado before he starts freaking out." Masaomi replies before bounding down the stairs and into the subway.

Hiro chuckled lightly while shaking her head, before following after him. They got into the station and surprisingly soon enough, Masaomi spotted his friend from elementary. The boy had short black hair, not very distinguishing from the others in the overly crowded subway. He had his back rested against a support beam and looked like he had just finished running a marathon. Hiro felt bad for the kid.

"Yo! Mikado!"

The ravenette known as Mikado turned to look at the voice that had called his name. A look of confusing spread across his face, but before long his eyes lit up like the stars.

"It's you! M-Masaomi?" Mikado asked, still a bit dazed.

"You honestly have to ask?!" Masaomi exclaimed dramatically. "Okay, multiple choice: three answers. I am, 1.) Kida Masaomi,

2.) Kida Masaomi, or

3.) Kida Masaomi!?" Masaomi exclaimed again, though a bit more chipper.

"Wow! Masaomi, is it really you?! You look so different, I couldn't be sure!" Mikado replied in amazement.

"Thanks Mikado, totally ignore my brilliant joke…" Masaomi deadpanned, disappointed.

"Masaomi, you're jokes are only adequately amusing." Hiro commented with a snicker.

"Not you too, Hiro!" Masaomi wailed in response, clinging to like a child to mother.

"Get off of me." Hiro sweatdropped, and pried the boy off.

"Uhm…" Mikado piped up. "Who's this, Masaomi?" He asked.

"Oh! This is someone I've recruited to help you get the info about Ikebukuro!" Masaomi exclaimed, pointing at Hiro. "This is Nagata Hiro, my hot college girlfriend." He continues, wiggling his eyebrows at his best friend.

"W-Wha-Huh?! M-Masaomi!" Mikado and Hiro both said at the same time, though Hiro a bit more angrily and Mikado a bit more amazed.

In a sudden, swift motion, Masaomi fell to his knees after a quick kick to the shin from Hiro. "Not happening." She growled out.

"F-Forgive me…" Masaomi mumbled out, standing with a wince.

Hiro sighed. "Nagata Hiro. Not his girlfriend." She quickly corrected.

"Uh, right…" Mikado chuckled nervously, afraid to say something wrong and get a kick to his own shins. "I'm Ryuugamine Mikado." He introduces.

"Huh. Your name has a pretty interesting translation. Shame it sounds like the name of that air conditioner." Hiro comments with a chuckle.

_I think she's thinking of '__Kirigamine'… _Mikado deadpanned to himself.

"C'mon guys, enough standing around here! Shall we leave the station, then? Go west, young companions!" Masaomi exclaimed, pushing them towards the West Exit.

"Masaomi. Seibu Exit." Hiro reminds in a mumble.

Masaomi comes to a sudden hault. "Oh yes, you're right Hiro! We're heading for the Seibu Exit, not the West Exit, the trickster guide strikes again!" Masaomi exclaimed, chuckling to himself.

Mikado stared at him with a confused expression, obviously not getting the joke.

Hiro sighed, and explained, "At this station, the Tobu Store is at the East Exit, while the Seibu is at the East Exit…"

"Yeah! That's the bad humor I recognize from chat! This really is you, Masaomi!" Mikado exclaimed, still not believing his eyes. "It's just the dyed hair and lower voice that threw me off." He continued after some mumbling from Masaomi.

Hiro watched the two catch up as they left the station, zoning out of the conversation. She felt happy for them. Happy that these two friends from elementary school could reconnect after all these years. But also a bit envious. After she herself moved back to Tokyo, none of her elementary school friends tried to contact her. Though, that was years ago. She highly doubted any of them remembered her anyway.

"So, was there anyplace in particular you wanted to visit?" Hiro asked, glancing up at Mikado.

"Well, sure! It's Ikebukuro! How about Sunshine City?" Mikado replied, an excited glimmer shining in his eyes as he spoke.

"Huh? Right now, with us?" Masaomi asked with furrowed eyebrows.

"Uh, yeah…" Mikado replied, a bit confused.

"Look, it's fine if you want to, but Sunshine's got the aquarium, and that theme park Namja Town, and stuff like that." Masaomi explained, though Mikado was still utterly confused.

"What Masaomi's saying is, you might want to take your girlfriend there instead." Hiro said bluntly.

"O-Oh, I see…" Mikado uttered out, a light blush coloring his cheeks.

"Man, Mikado! You're such a dumbass!" Masaomi joked, chuckling, while Hiro simply shook her head with a soft laugh.

"H-Hey…" Mikado mumbled, though not denying it.

Suddenly, Mikado finds himself falling to the ground, and hits it with a thud. Something drops in front of him, but is suddenly swiped from the ground before Mikado could investigate it. It all happened so fast, it made his head spin.

"Wait! Seiji-San, wa-a-ait!" A girl calls out, running after the boy who bumped into Mikado.

The three watched the two run off with confusion splattered across their faces. They were silent for a minute.

"H-Hey, Masaomi, Hiro, was that an Ikebukuro native? Was he in a street gang?!" Mikado asked, suddenly quiet anxious while his face blanched from fright.

"Huh?!" Masaomi and Hiro both erupting with laughter.

"N-No, he wasn't." Masaomi replied after wiping a stray tear from his eye. "I can see that time hasn't given you much courage." He continues.

"I maybe thought he was with one of those gangs that wear yellow and hang out at West Gate park." Mikado continued nervously.

Masaomi smiled lightly as he held out a hand to Mikado, who takes it and stands up. "They're not a big deal anymore. There was a huge gang war a while back, and a lot of 'em got locked up. Since then, whenever people stand around wearing the same color, the cops are right on 'em." Masaomi explains.

"O-Oh…" Mikado replies, not knowing what to say in response.

"It's Nishiguchi Koen, no one here calls it West Gate park, in English, by the way." Hiro comments, and Mikado nods at her.

"So, Ikebukuro's safe these days?" He asks.

"S-Safe? You've got to be kidding me." She replies. "There are plenty of dangerous things here besides color gangs. I got robbed a few days ago." She mumbles.

"R-Robbed?" Mikado mumbled, shocked.

"Plus," Masaomi started, turning Mikado's attention to his blond friend. "Even when it comes to ordinary people, there are some you just cannot mess with." Masaomi continued, probably the most serious Mikado had ever heard his friend speak.

"Meaning…?" Mikado asked, though was a bit nervous about hearing the answer.

Masaomi didn't answer, rather, ignored the question. "Hey check it out: 60 Kai street! There's Sunshine Street too, which we can go to later." He changed the topic.

Even here, there were a million people. Though, for Masaomi and Hiro, residents of Ikebukuro, this was to be expected. 60 Kai held the movie theater, and arcades. Mikado had suddenly realized how much he still had to learn about this gigantic city.

"But since you don't have a specific place in mind…" Masaomi paused. "Let's go pick up chicks!" He exclaimed.

"Masaomi!" Mikado yelled out, while Hiro began to walk away, Mikado soon catching up to her.

"Aw come on, you guys are chickening out on me?!" Masaomi asks, pulling them back.

"I haven't seen you in four years, and that's what you want to do?" Mikado deadpans.

"Well, we're here on 60 Kai, aren't we? I was gonna use this to teach you about the cinema an' stuff." Masaomi pouted.

"But-" Mikado got interrupted.

"Hang on, Hiro have you seen Simon or Shizuo today?" Masaomi suddenly asked, providing the shaking of her head from the girl asked. "Huh, I wonder if Yumasaki-San and Karisawa-San are at the arcade…" He continued mumbling.

"Who?" Mikado asked, prompting Masaomi to stop and explain.

"Ohh, Yumasaki and Karisawa are just some weird people I know. There's also Kadota-San, but I'll introduce you to them some other time. They're good people." Masaomi insisted.

Mikado glanced over to Hiro, who nodded reassuringly. "I know Kadota Kyohei from high school. He's pretty cool with you if you're cool with him." She says.

"H-Huh?! So Masaomi wasn't kidding about the college part?!" Mikado asked, a bit stunned.

"I'm in my first year of college, twenty year old, graduated from Raijin High School, which is now Raira High School." Hiro cooley explains.

Masaomi slid over to Mikado. "Just don't call her short, you'll get a hella beating for it." He whispered, while Mikado nodded, nervously, gulping.

"Simon and Shizuo are two of those people Masaomi mentioned earlier, basically two you do not want to get in a fight with. Simon's not too bad, but if you see or hear Heiwajima Shizuo, you shouldn't wait around." Hiro explained the rest.

"So, are there more of these people you can't mess with?" Mikado asked.

"Well-" Hiro mumbled, thinking a bit.

"Yeah well, since you live in Ikebukuro now, the sooner you know, the better." Masaomi answered with a sigh. "Well, first of all there me!" His tone did a 180, and he suddenly exclaimed this with giddiness.

"√3 points." Mikado simply responded.

"What'dya mean √3?! If you're gonna blast me, than at least go for something easier, like a negative three!" Masaomi exclaims.

"Ah, Orihara Izaya. That's who I was thinking of. That bastard..." Hiro mumbles, though loud enough for the boys to hear her.

Masaomi's eyes narrowed, continuing where Hiro left off. "There's one guy named Orihara Izaya. And he's the one you never, ever wanna come in contact with." An uncharacteristic seriousness dripped of every word Masaomi said.

"There's also the Dollars." Hiro chimed in once again, switching the subject.

"The Dollars?"

"A color gang, only without a color. I personally don't know anything about them, only that you join from a website, when a member sends you a password." Hiro shrugged.

"Ah, I see." Mikado replied, a small sigh filtering from his mouth. The big city kinda overwhelmed him. He thought… maybe if he moved here, he'd get out of the normal, boring life he'd experienced back home in the rural Japan. Suddenly, Mikado heard Masaomi calling for him, shouting about the light turning red.

"Alright, I'm coming-"

Even more sudden, a neighing noise, as loud as the whirling of an engine. A bike, a pitch black bike, swerved in front of him, nearly hitting Mikado. In the span of a few seconds, time slowed as the boy stared into the rider's eyes, or rather the riders shadowy black visor on their riding helmet. Suddenly, time sped up again and Mikado fell backwards as the rider rode away, this time the bike making a more prominent neighing, loud enough for everyone in Ikebukuro to hear.

"Are you okay, Mikado?!" Masaomi cried, running back into the road for his friend.

"M-M-Masaomi, N-Nagata-San… w-what _was _that?!"

"You're a lucky man, Mikado." Masaomi sighed, guiding Mikado onto the pavement.

Mikado looked to Hiro for any sort of explanation, but she just shrugged.

"Maybe it was a welcoming from the neighborhood. You just got up close and personal with an urban legend!" A spark filled Masaomi's eyes as he spoke. But he suddenly turned, continuing on his was, prompting Mikado and Hiro to follow, Mikado spitting out hundred questions a second. Neither Masaomi, nor Hiro really had an explanation, though.

* * *

"Ahahahaha!" A laugh sounded from an Ikebukuro rooftop, though no one really heard it. "I was wondering what that huge noise was coming from, and what do you know!" It was a man, more specifically, Orihara Izaya, looking over the scene, a smirk hanging across his face.

"It's-"

* * *

"The Black Rider." Hiro mumbled out, unknowingly finishing Izaya's sentence. The scene replaying over and over in her head as she sat on her bed in the apartment her and Yui shared. She had been searching all over the internet about ever since she got home, her laptop's back was hot to the touch.

She sighed as she closed the final webpage, typing an address into a new tab. Maybe some of her online friends were online in the chat room they all used.

-Ikuto Has Entered The Chat-

[Ikuto]: Hey guys.

[TarouTanaka]: Ikuto! Listen to this! I saw it! That black rider thing!

_They're talking about it here, too? It's almost as if the things following me… _ Hiro though with a shudder.

[Ikuto]: Oh yeah? Today was your first day in Ikebukuro, right Tarou?

[TarouTanaka]: Yeah, it was! And I got to see this thing people call an urban legend!

This TarouTanaka person reminded Hiro of Mikado. Though, it was really late, and plus, their first day of high school was in a week. The kid was probably asleep.

[Setton]: Wait, did this happen around seven in the evening?

[TarouTanaka]: Huh?! Yeah, did you see it too, Setton?

[Ikuto]: Seven? Near 60 Kai Street?

[TarouTanaka]: Woah, you too Ikuto?! That's insane, we all could've been standing right next to each other and not even realized it!

[Setton]: Possibly.

-Kanra Has Entered The Chat-

[Kanra]: Hello! I read the log. So how was the Black Rider?

[TarouTanaka]: Good Evening! It was really… black. I don't know how to describe it really… I could feel my whole body trembling

[Setton]: You're just being dramatic.

[Kanra]: Oh Tarou, you're such a chicken! (^v^)

_Huh, afraid? _Hiro thought about Mikado's reaction to the Black Rider, and even her own. _The kid looked… excited, more than scared. I don't blame him, not really. It was exhilarating. I can see why TarouTanaka-San was trembling._

Truth be told, Hiro felt the exact same way.

* * *

_I hope you've enjoyed this chapter of Lap Dog. I had a lot of fun writing this one, and I hope Hiro didn't seem to harsh on poor Masaomi. (^ ~ ^) They've known each other for a long time, but the story of how they met is being saved for a later chapter. Don't forget to share your thoughts through a review! It's very much appreciated. (^_^) Also as a reminder, this story goes up every week on Friday ❤_


	4. Trust Building

Over the next few days, Hiro found herself anxious, jumpy, and nervous. It wasn't over the top, but she also didn't know what caused it, making her feel all the more frustrated and miserable. She tried doing activities that usually helped calm her down. Her first action was writing, but all she could do was stare at the open and empty Google Docs page and hope for inspiration to come, which it of course never did.

Her next course of action was music. Playing it didn't work. Her hands were she shaking she missed every note. And listening to it didn't help either, it just made her want to play all the much more. Lastly, she tried one of her favorite activities, cooking. But after she uncharacteristically set fire to Yui's favorite hamburger steak upon the stove, Yui forced her out of the kitchen for a few days.

Hiro just had no idea what to do. Maybe it was the house, perhaps this was stir-craziness? She decided then to get some fresh air, so she grabbed a small red jacket and headed out the door, stepping onto the pavement and inhaling the air. The feeling still lingered.

_What the hell. _She asked herself, clenching her jaw. It kind of pissed her off a bit, as it should. She decided to wander around Ikebukuro for a bit, which probably wasn't the _best _idea, her being a small, weak girl within a city full of thugs, but Hiro had grown up in this city, to her, this place was almost like a school's playground.

She sighed, for probably the millionth time that day as she pulled her thick black hair over her shoulder and throwing up her hood that snugly fit her head. She stared at the ground as she walked, only glancing up to see if the light was red.

"Hey baby, wanna have a good time?"

_Oh great, just what I need. _Hiro's thoughts were dripping with sarcasm as the voiced called out to her.

"Aw, come on babe, we just wanna show you some fun!" There were three men, quickly approaching her, she tried to ignore them and walk away, but her having shorter legs than them seemed to be the problem. As they grew near, Hiro almost gagged at the stench of sake.

_Disgusting._

"Back off." she snarled at her pursuers, though her spit fire like nature only seemed to draw them closer.

"Man, aren't you a tough one. What are you, sixteen, seventeen? What're you doing out here by yourself? Don't worry, me and my boys will take care of you, isn't that right boys?" The man who seemed to be the leader of the three stepped closer as his posse chuckled in the background. The forced her to back up into a dimly lit alleyway. The whole area was shadowy, even though it was still light outside, barely four o'clock the last time Hiro checked.

_Ah hell._ Hiro thought to herself. How was she supposed to get out of this one? Everyone always told her she should lay off the sarcasm, tone down her temper, and ultimately change her look out on life in general, but she never gave in. "Her stubborn ways just won't allow it," People would say.

_Why did this have to happen to me?_

* * *

Orihara Izaya was as he usual was, skipping around Ikebukuro, hoping to find some kind of entertainment without being caught by Heiwajima Shizuo. He considered seeking out his newest source, Nagata Hiro, but he decided to give her a break.

His hand closed around the pocket knife he carried with him, and the urge to use it surged within him. He hadn't had to use it in a while, and Izaya decided he was getting a bit rusty for his tastes. So he walked by the alleyways. There was always some thug causing trouble, and he oh so loved to see the look on the human's faces when he comes in and completely overpowers them.

So far he had seen nothing, though it was around four in the afternoon, so it was expected. _But this is Ikebukuro! The humans here always have _something_ to offer! _ He thought to himself, until suddenly he heard it.

"Shove it up your ass!" The voice of the human he contemplated seeing that day, Nagata Hiro.

Izaya felt a grin spread across his face as he skipped over to the next alleyway, and there he saw a group of three men surrounding what looked like a young girl in red, which must have been Hiro.

"Aw come on baby, don't be like that-" And that's when Izaya threw one of his many throwing knives, and the small blade whizzed past the thug, the only trace that it was there was left in the form of a wound on who looked like the 'leader' of the group, a slice across his cheek that started to bleed.

"W-What the hell?!" Immediately a hand went to his cheek, as he yowled in pain.

"Don'tcha think it's a little unfair to corner a girl smaller than you?" Izaya asked, now sauntering into the alleyway with a tilt of his head.

"Oh yeah, and what're you gonna do about, asshole?" One goon said.

"Yeah, we saw her first, this one's ours!" Another continued.

Something about that last thugs sentence… it irked him. Struck a nerve, which didn't happen often within Izaya, or at least he never really made it known. But something about that sentence made Izaya narrow his eyes.

_Yours? Give me a break. How dare they talk about my humans like that? _ Was what the thug said a joke? It had to have been. Any human, every human, was Izaya's. Hiro included. So how could this pathetic little worm go around stating he was claiming one of Izaya's as his?

Izaya quickly sliced at the man with his pocket knife, cutting a hole in the man's jacket. The thug stumbled backward, crashing into his posse behind him.

"L-Let's get out of here!" One of the goons exclaimed, and his partner nodded.

"You think I'm scared of this guy? Yo Yakamoto, my knife." And suddenly, the leader thug was given a knife. It looked dull and mostly unused, combined with the fact that the man hardly knew how to hold it- It made Izaya laugh in amusement.

"What's it to you, asshat?" The one with the knife said, his ego was clearly boosted now that he wasn't unarmed.

"It's just," Izaya had to pause for another laugh. "It's simply that you look like an idiot, holding a weapon you clearly can't use." He continued, his tone childlike.

"Arrg! Don't fuck with me, man!" The thug charged at Izaya, holding the weapon out as if to stab Izaya in the stomach, but Izaya was obviously faster. He easily dodged the attack and stuck out a foot, and the man tripped, falling onto his face. Izaya swiftly forced the knife out the man's hand with a quick stomp on his hand, and kicked the knife far away from the man's hand, and after hearing the blade clink and clank into a sewer, Izaya stepped away from the fallen man.

He turned and sauntered over towards Hiro and the other two men, but the other two booked it, leaving their leader for dead. Instead of chasing after them, Izaya pocketed his knife and turned to Hiro, holding out a hand.

"Shall we be going, Hiro-Chan?"

* * *

_Why was he there?_ Hiro asked herself, knowing it was useless, she obviously didn't know the answer. She assumed he was just wandering around Ikebukuro, heard the commotion in the alleyway, and helped out of the kindness of his heart. But this was Orihara Izaya, and 'helping out of the kindness of his heart' didn't sound like him.

And yet, he helped her, more like _saved _her from a potential rape/molestation. And here he was, still walking beside her. But _why?_

"Orihara-San," She piped up, causing Izaya to look at her. "I appreciate your help and all, but why are you still following me?" She straightforwardly asked.

The man simply shrugged. "I was bored, Hiro-Chan, and you've become my newest source of entertainment." He simply replies, lazily plopping himself onto a park bench. Hiro doing the same, only a bit more stiffly.

"Like I said the other day, I'm not all the interesting." She mumbled, nervously playing with the hem of her skit with the tips of her fingers.

"But I think the contrary!" He exclaims. "You're very interesting, Hiro-Chan. Who's to say they flew across the ocean when they were twelve? And back again when they were fourteen? You also have many skills, Hiro-Chan, skills that most wish they had." He continues, and as he rants, Hiro watched his eyes flare up with excitement, almost like watching someone talk about they're favorite hobby, or… someone they love…

_No._ Hiro stopped herself from thinking any further into that. There was no way Orihara Izaya could ever be interested in her. And there's no way she'd ever return those feelings, even if he were… right?

"W-Wait, so you're stalking me now?!" She exclaimed through gritted teeth as she glared at him. The things he said flattered her, sure, no wonder the tips of her ears were beet red. But how had he gotten that info? He's an Information Broker, but she had never told him any of this, so it had to be some kind of stalking!

"No, no, you misunderstand! I'm simply doing my job, information gathering~" He chimed, a childlike smile radiating from his features.

"Information gathering." Hiro replied in disbelief. "Wouldn't a synonym be stalking?" She asked, deadpanning.

"Ah, ah, it's not like I was following you around, Hiro-Chan." He countered.

"Then what the hell were you doing in that alley, Orihara-San!?" Hiro exclaimed, her temper beginning to rise.

"Huh? Pure coincidence." He explained with that.

"E-Excuse me?" She replied, a bit shocked by his short answer.

"You can't honestly believe I'd follow you into an alleyway and wait that long to act when you go surrounded by thugs, can you?" He asked in response, a small pout forming on his lips. Hiro had to admit, the look was cute.

"W-Well, I wouldn't put it past you." She mumbled, glancing away from him, hoping he wouldn't see her small blush.

Hiro didn't see it, but the man gave a small shrug, and stuck his hands into his coat pocket, and grew silent. She uncomfortably shifted to glance at him, only to find him staring at her, kinda like the other day. Hiro cleared her throat, looking up at him.

"Thank you, Orihara-San." She started to say in a normal tone, though it soon died down to a mumble as she started to say his name.

"Izaya," He said. "Call me Izaya." He continued with his request.

"O-Okay…" She stuttered. Hiro didn't call many people by their first names, since most people never requested it. Did this mean she should consider Orihara Izaya a… friend of hers?

"And you're welcome, Hi-Chan." Oddly, she didn't mind him calling her 'Hiro-Chan' in that instant. It sort of made her heart flutter, but she didn't understand why. So she didn't scold him, and instead gave a small, very small, smile, and scratched the back of her neck sheepishly, while Izaya gave an amused smirk at the way she was acting.

She suddenly snapped out of it, or rather focused back on reality. Hiro stood from the bench. "I-I've gotta go…" She said suddenly, bowed, and turned, preparing to walk off before a hand caught her wrist, (Izaya's hand, which made her blush flare up, luckily she was turned so he couldn't see her face.) and shoved a piece of paper into her hand, before releasing her.

"Goodnight, Hiro-Chan." Izaya said, now also standing.

"G-Goodnight, Izaya-San." Hiro said quickly before speed-walking off.

Izaya gave a small chuckle as he watched her go, shaking his head lightly while doing so.

_Her hands are very soft._

* * *

Hiro clenched onto the slip of paper Izaya had given her as hard as she could until she got home, not wanting to lose it, but also not wanting to look at it's continents until she got home either. So you could say she was relieved when she finally got home, which seemed like it took forever.

The raven haired girl kicked off her sneakers and collapsed on her recliner chair that sat in their living room, diagonal to their one-month-loveseat. She slowly opened her clenched hand, revealing the note that made her heart pound.

"What the hell's wrong with me?" She curses to herself before scanning her eyes over the paper.

On the paper were two things. The first of the two being a phone number, which Hiro could only assume was Izaya's, due to the fact that it was Izaya who had given it to her, and who else's phone number would he have put? The second of the two things was a link.

, and a password as well. Hiro's eyes widened. _The Dollars? Did Orihara Izaya just give me the url and password to the Dollars?_ She had to investigate.

Hiro (as quickly as she could) got out her laptop and turned it on. After wait the initial start up time, she opened Google and speedily typed in the link. What was brought up was a mostly black screen (aside from her task bar and tabs near the tops of her screen) with a circle in the middle, which was white with a thinner outer layer and a thicker inner layer. Inside the circle it said 'Dollars', made up of small circles of different colors. And below it, it said password, with space to type something in.

Hiro clicked on the small white box, and typed out the word on the slip of paper. _What an odd password… _She thought to herself as it authenticated. And suddenly she was in. The site asked her to enter a username, password, and choose a profile picture.

_Is this really the Dollars, like the internet gang? _ She asked herself, before realizing that asking herself was stupid and redundant.

Instead, she fished her cell from her jacket pocket (which she had swiftly added Izaya's number into) and opened it, and started typing with her thumbs, asking Izaya the same question she had just thought in her head.

/Yup, that's it. Have fun, Hiro-Chan~/ He messaged back almost instantly, which made Hiro wonder what he was doing.

_The Dollars…_ She thought to herself. There was page after page, all these people, hiding behind a screen. So this is what it was. And here she was, practically being absorbed into this new internet culture that didn't even feel like a color gang. Instead, it felt similar to an MMORPG, though there was no quests to go on, nor any enemies to defeat.

_Thanks again, Izaya-San._

* * *

_Hello readers of Lap Dog, thank you for reading chapter 4. I hope you're enjoying the story so far, I'm having a lot of fun writing it! Make sure to leave your input by leaving a review, and if you haven't already follow and favorite this story. Its very appreciated. (^_^)  
_


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